OnTheAir Video Express is an easy-to-use professional playout application. Create as many playlists as you want, and play them within seconds.

OnTheAir Video Express uses the same playout engine as OnTheAir Video and OnTheAir Node, but it does not have any graphic overlay feature, nor the smart resize (it has a "standard" resize though). Make sure to check the "Features" section to check the differences between each product.

OnTheAir Video Express for RTL-TVI TV show

See the M|62 and the M|44 in the production room of RTL-TVI tv show 'De quoi je me mêle' in Brussels

Main features

Mix-and-match multiple codecs

Play multiple codecs in the same playlist. Support for Apple ProRes®, AVC-Intra, Avid DNxHD®, H.264, XDCAM EX, XDCAM HD and many more codecs. (check the list in the Tech Specs section). You do not need to install any additional software or codec. You can even mix different resolution in the same playlist.

QuickTime, MXF and Transport Stream

You can play the standard QuickTime files (.mov), but also transport stream (.ts) or MXF (.MXF). The beauty is that you don't even need to install an additional software to read MXF files. They support for MXF files is built in the Smart Playout Engine.

Supports NDI® Output

NDI® is an open, low-latency, video-over-IP protocol developed by NewTek, Inc. It uses a simple gigabit ethernet cable to transmit video and audio over a local area network between multiple video systems. Now, thanks to NDI®, you can transfer HD and 4K video over a simple Ethernet cable. There is no need for additional routers or even SDI cables anymore, further demonstrating the ease-of-use and reliability of our products. NDI® opens the world to a different way of doing video production and to an ecosystem of devices supporting the protocol.

With the Smart Playout Engine's unequaled efficiency, you can playout 4 channels of HD simultaneously on one Mac as the Smart Playout Engine (SPE) is optimized to take advantages of multiple cores. For that you will need the Quad version of OnTheAir Video Express, and to purchase one license of the software per channel you want to output.

Mix and Match different resolutions

You can drag and drop clips of different resolutions in the playlist and they will be scaled automatically to fit in the output resolution by choosing a resizing method (letterbox, pand&scan or fill). Note that the Smart Resize mode is not available in OnTheAir Video Express, only in OnTheAir Video and OnTheAir Node. Check the screenshots below to see the difference, or check this video (the difference can only be seen in the higher resolutions 720p and 1080p)

Play videos or still images

Play out movie files and still images in the same playlist. Set a play duration for your still images and they will play out for that duration just as if they were a standard video file.

Control from Video Mixer

Control OnTheAir Video Express from a video mixer. When pushing on a video mixer input button, playback can automatically start in OnTheAir Video Express. This can work through a simple network connection with Blackmagic Design's ATEM or NewTek's TriCaster® production switchers. For other brands, you will need to use the GPI/tally outputs of your production switcher (requires GPI Commander).

Dongle - Instead of a serial number, receive a dongle that do not require activation. Ideal when you want to move your license around. One dongle can be used for up to 8 licenses (if multiple applications run on the same computer).

Download OnTheAir Video Express

OnTheAir Video Express 3.6 or later is required if you are using a dongle with macOS 10.13 (High Sierra). Check the system requirements page for OnTheAir Video Express.

Installation instructions
Download the SINGLE version if you just need to play on one output, the Multi version to be able to play up to 8 streams on one Mac. Once downloaded, unzip the file, run the installer and select the number of channels you want to install. Make sure also to download and install the drivers for your AJA, Blackmagic-Design or Deltacast card.

Upgrade/Update instructions
Just download the latest version and replace your previsous version. It is always recommended to run extensive tests with your specific workflow and setup before putting a new version in production. You can use a free demo version for that on a separate computer. Previous legacy versions are available from the general downloads page.

Hardware Requirements and Specifications

Supported outputs

System Requirements

Requirements

Compatible macOS

Version 3.0 and 3.1: macOS 10.8.5 or later*
Version 3.2 and later: macOS 10.9.5 or later* (Confirm cards driver compatibility)
Version 3.6 and later: macOS 10.10.5 or later* (Confirm cards driver compatibility)
Warning: if you are using a dongle, and macOS 10.13 or later, you will have to use Version 3.6 or later

With all Mac computers with i5 or i7 processors, running macOS 10.9.5 or later. Note that hardware acceleration is available only for more than one channel with macOS 10.13 or later.

Hardware acceleration to decode H.265 / HEVC

With all Mac computers with 6th generation of intel processors (2016 and later), running macOS 10.13 or later.

Compatible Storage

Most storage that can sustain the required constant write speed (depending on the number of streams, the codec and format). For network attached storage (NAS), make sure to enable Macro blocks, and disable cache flushing. If you need to run tests, make sure to do long term tests.

* We know that some of our users can not upgrade their macOS very often. This is why Softron tries to maintain compatibility with older versions of macOS as much as possible, but it is not always possible to achieve. Because Operating Systems are usually significantly improved over previous versions, Softron must use many of the more capable built-in functionalities inherent in Apple's latest OS releases. Failing to do so would mean that Softron software would essentially be blocked from using the new Frameworks provided in the OS. For this reason, Softron's free support is provided only on the current and previous macOS versions. Also, most of our tests will be done on these macOS versions, and only basic tests will be done on the previous OS. We will always try to help, but in some cases, the best solution is to upgrade your macOS to a more recent version.

** We indicate here the release year of the first supported model. We recommend though to use newly released computers.

*** The specifications above are valid for 1080i clips in the Apple ProRes (LT) codec. Changing the frame rate, resolution or codec may affect the system requirements. Also specifications may differ if you need animated graphics (with OnTheAir CG running on the same computer). As OnTheAir CG will also need to decompress video files, you should rather look at the 2 channels configuration. Make sure also to check the specs for OnTheAir CG if you need animated graphics. You can not have multiple channels of OnTheAir CG on one computer.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Softron does not warrant that these recommended configurations will always meet specific user requirements. They are intended as guidelines and are based on extensive testing that Softron has done, they can be changed without notice. Hardware, drivers, software and operating systems change regularly and we advise users and prospective users to evaluate their requirements in their specific environment/workflow using Softron demo licenses that are available for downloading from Softron's web site.

Supp. output: AJA

Compatibility chart - AJA drivers

MovieRecorder Version

First Supported Drivers

Last Supported Drivers

Version 3.0 until 3.1

10.5.2

10.6.1

Version 3.2.x

10.5.2

12.2.2

Version 3.3.x

12.1.2

14.3

Version 3.4.x until 3.6.x

12.4.2

14.3

Version 3.7 and later

12.4.2

latest

Supported devices

Most AJA devices are supported. For more information on the supported devices, the number of possible outputs and wether keying is supported or not, check this Help Center article.

Compatibility chart - Deltacast drivers

Supported devices

Deltacast cards are OEM cards that we use for some of our M|Family products. They are usually not available for end users. We only validate using the deltacast cards that we provide. Other models may work, but not all have been tested. Check the list of supported video devices in our Help Centerarticle.

Other Supp. outputs

Compatibility chart - Other outputs

Other Supported Outputs

First Version to support it

NDI®

3.5

Supp. files/codecs

Video Codecs

Animation

No

Apple Intermediate Codec

No

Apple Pixlet Video

No

Apple ProRes 422 Family (Proxy, 422, LT, HQ)

Yes

Apple ProRes 4444 (4444, XQ)

Yes

Apple ProRes RAW

No

AVC-Intra (50 & 100)

Yes

AVCHD

Yes

Avid DNxHD

Yes

Blackmagic RAW

No

DV-PAL

Yes

DV/DVCPRO-NTSC

Yes

DVCPro-PAL

Yes

DVCPro HD

Yes

DVCPro 50

Yes

Flash

No

H.264

Yes

HDV

Yes

HEVC

Yes*

JPEG 2000

No

MPEG IMX (30/40/50)

Yes

MPEG-2

Yes

MPEG-4 Video

Yes

None

Yes

Photo-JPEG

Yes

Uncompressed

Yes

XAVC

No

XDCAM EX

Yes

XDCAM HD

Yes

XDCAM HD422

Yes

* HEVC requires macOS 10.13 or later and a computer using a Intel Core processor Skylake or later (available in 2016 on the Mac)

Audio Codecs

AAC

Yes

Apple Lossless

Yes

MP2

Yes

MP3

Yes

Linear PCM

Yes

Video Wrappers

AVI

Yes

DV

Yes

M2T

Yes

M2V

Yes

M4P (From iTunes with DRM)

No

M4V

Yes

MP2

Yes

MP4

Yes

MPEG

Yes

MPG

Yes

MXF OP1a

Yes

MXF OP-Atom

No

QuickTime (MOV)

Yes

Transport Stream (ts)

Yes

Still Image Formats

BMP

Yes

PSD

Yes

GIF

Yes
Only the first image

Dicom

No

EPS

No

IFF

No

JPEG

Yes

JPEG 2000

Yes

PCX

No

PDF

No

Photoshop Raw

No

Pixar

No

PNG

Yes

Portable Bit Map

No

Targa

Yes

TIFF

Yes

Important Note: Some of the codecs above such as H.264 or MPEG2 can have a lot of variants. This is why we always recommend to have a procedure on how to create the files you put on air. So you are sure it will always behave well. If you receive files from external sources and you don't know how they were generated, it's always a good idea to test them before putting them on air. You can even test them on a different computer with a demo version of one of our playout application.